From the Deputy Principal

Building a sense of belonging

Today our Secondary students had a pupil free day which provided a vital opportunity for our Secondary staff to participate in professional learning and a review of the impacts of the changes to our secondary school structure.  Teachers and Education Assistants were able to learn more about the needs of adolescent learners and the impact of this on student engagement and a sense of belonging.

Recent research from the Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO) suggests that belonging is vital to student achievement.  The research tells us that a positive sense of belonging at school has fundamental benefits for students, including feeling that: 

• their teachers and peers like, value and accept them 
• the curriculum is interesting and relevant 
• they are capable of succeeding at school 
• their cultural identity is welcome and valued 
• they can ‘be themselves’ within appropriate boundaries 

A positive relationship with the school community can shape a student’s emotional, behavioural, and cognitive engagement with schooling and influence academic outcomes.  Students who experience positive peer relationships in school are up to 2 months ahead in their NAPLAN scores years later than those who don’t experience positive peer relationships. 

Benefits for learning and engagement at school include: 

• lower absenteeism
• higher levels of effort, interest and motivation 
• positive homework behaviour 
• being more likely to like school 
• trusting and respecting their teachers 
• enjoying challenging learning activities 
• being concerned about and helping others.

We also had the chance to collaborate on improving our practice and share ideas for new and better ways of approaching student wellbeing.

Enjoy the school holiday break with your children and we look forward to seeing them all back at school for Term Two.

Mrs Emma Franklin | Deputy Principal